


23 Days of NCT

by stayarmytinyzenmoa_l



Category: NCT (Band), NCT 127 - Fandom, NCT Dream, NCT U - Fandom, WAYV
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Drabbles, F/M, NCT Dream - Freeform, NCT U, Reader Insert, WayV - Freeform, nct - Freeform, nct 127, x Reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:14:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 18,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28705740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stayarmytinyzenmoa_l/pseuds/stayarmytinyzenmoa_l
Summary: Idol!NCT AU ; NonIdol!Reader AUGenre: Slice of Life(ish), Comedy, Light Angst in Some PartsPairing: NCT x ReaderSummary: Merry Christmas everyone! As my gift to you this year, I figured that I’d write one drabble a day for our favorite NCT boys, I hope you do enjoy! They are not connected linearly, and can be read separately from the others. Simply choose your fave and enjoy!Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in these actions. The idols mentioned in this work are meant to be seen more as face claims rather than the actual idols themselves.~I actually meant to upload these here last month but I forgot to... whoops... here they are now though!Imported from my Tumblr
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Reader, Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Reader, Huang Ren Jun/Reader, Jung Sungchan/Reader, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Reader, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Reader, Kim Jungwoo (NCT)/Reader, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Reader, Lee Jeno/Reader, Lee Taeyong/Reader, Liu Yang Yang/Reader, Mark Lee (NCT)/Reader, Moon Taeil/Reader, Na Jaemin/Reader, Nakamoto Yuta/Reader, Osaki Shotaro/Reader, Park Jisung (NCT)/Reader, Qian Kun/Reader, Suh Youngho | Johnny/Reader, Wong Kun Hang | Hendery/Reader, Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas/Reader, Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun/Reader, Zhong Chen Le/Reader
Kudos: 47





	1. Christmas Shopping - Sungchan

“This way, Sungchan!” You waved over your boyfriend, who was perusing through the records in the music aisle. “We still have to get gifts for my nieces…” You mumbled, going through your Christmas list on your phone.

You were always the kind to stay on top of your Christmas shopping, not wanting to save it for later and add to the stresses you already had. This year was slightly different, though, now that your boyfriend had debuted in the group NCT, you had about twenty-two more presents to shop for. Sungchan insisted that you didn’t have to, but you were so grateful for them for helping Sungchan feel like he wasn’t an outcast in NCT that you couldn’t help but want to show your appreciation somehow. Hence why you’re out now, trying to get all of your gift shopping out of the way. Although it was a bit of a challenge, you only knew what the boys were like on TV, but you were novice at what they really liked.

Sungchan walked over, vinyl under his arm, and looked over your shoulder at the list.

“We need to buy _how many_ toys?” He gasps.

“Relax, babe, I’m just getting basic stuffed animals for all of them, nothing too expensive,” you laughed. “I just didn’t want to show up at my aunt’s empty handed, you know how they are,” you nudged his side gently and laced your hand with his, dragging him throughout the toy store.

“Right, right, yeah. I remember the last time we showed up,” he shivers slightly at the memory. “They’re a bit rude, no?”

“Yeah, but they’re family, so what can I do?” You grabbed various stuffed animals off of the shelf and put them into your basket. “Ah, this is good, they have a lot of different kinds of animals,” you grabbed the otter and showed it to him.

“This kind of looks like Shotaro, doesn’t it?” You giggled. You snapped a photo of it and sent it to the aforementioned idol. “I’ll grab two so I can get him one too… That’s one down and twenty-one to go…” You started typing away and Sungchan picked the phone out of your hand.

“Don’t worry, I got this one, we can just split the costs,” he fills out the list for you. “Got it. I’ve only heard of these in passing, but I think they’ll appreciate these gifts.”

“Are you sure?” You looked at the gifts Sungchan had listed.

“Of course I am!”

“Sorry, I just find it hard to believe that all Kun wants is a crockpot…” you scrolled down the rather mundane list of things.

“Seems that way, doesn’t it?” Sungchan shrugs. “But I heard him talking about how he doesn’t really have time to cook as much as he wants, so I figured why not get him something that cooks the whole day while he’s out?”

“Sungchannie, you are a genius,” you pinched his cheeks sweetly and went down the list again. “Alright, these are all doable. I’ll probably have to pick up an extra shift though… I completely forgot about the fact that I had to get more gifts this year,” you admitted.

“You don’t—”

“Shh, I don’t want to hear it. I’m buying these other twenty-two men gifts and you can’t convince me otherwise,” you teased. You grabbed onto the shopping cart and continued on your way around the store, Sungchan following close behind and picking up small items here and there that the Neos would appreciate.

He was a bit worried about you when he heard he was going to debut, to be honest. He was lucky enough that the media hasn’t found out about you yet, and he genuinely thought that you were going to leave him after he debuted, but when you knocked on his door that morning asking him why he wasn’t ready for your annual Christmas shopping, he silently reprimanded himself for thinking that way in the first place. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	2. Christmas Decorating (Indoors) - Chenle

“Careful! Careful!” You sprinted forward and caught the music box before it crashed on the floors.

Although it’s not your first Christmas since getting together with Chenle, it was the first time that you were spending it with him and his mother, that is, and today happened to be decorations day. Chenle’s mother had stepped out to do some last minute holiday shopping and left you and Chenle to do the bulk of the work, but it’s safe to say it has been anything but productive. You both initially started your time alone with an impromptu holiday karaoke session, which lasted for a good hour, then you moved on to doing random tiktok challenges in the living room, another hour gone. It wasn’t until Chenle got a text from his mother saying that she was on her way when the both of you started hustling. This, however, doesn’t come without a price. It’s a miracle that nothing has broken yet, to be honest. Regardless, you were both able to decorate, albeit messily, the majority of the house within an hour.

“Sorry, (Y/N), how far is she?” Chenle takes the music box from your hands and places it on the table, winding it up and letting it play for the heck of it. The quaint tune of ‘Jingle Bells’ filled the room, and of course you couldn’t stay upset.

“Half an hour away, I think, or at least it’s been an hour since she last texted us.”

“Oh no, she’s gonna kill us.”

“No she won’t, it’s Christmas.” You sat down on the carpeted floors and fell back slowly, staring at the ceiling above you. You held your hand up to Chenle and he, expecting that you wanted him to help you up, took it. With a quick tug, you pulled him down next to you. “What are we doing?”

“Taking a break,” you responded quietly. “Maybe our luck will come back, and we can finish this, haha… how many rooms do we have left?”

“Kitchen, and that’s it,” Chenle makes himself comfortable on the floor. You both laid there in silence for a bit, slightly embarrassed by how much time you let pass by instead of doing what you were told. “Did you buy my present yet?”

“What?” You laughed.

“Because I bought yours.”

“Did you really?”

“Mmhmm…”

“That’s good…” You mumbled. “Yeah, I bought your present already, it hasn’t come in yet though.”

“Oh… okay,” Chenle hummed. He turned over to you. “Do you want your present now?”

“What? No, it’s only December second!”

“Or should I just tell you?”

“No! Stop it! Save it for Christmas!”

“But you’re going to like it so much!”

“I don’t care, I don’t wanna know!”

“I’ll give you a hint—”

“La la la la la! I’m not listening!” You covered your ears. You could clearly see Chenle raving about what it was that he bought you, and although you did well to just _not_ listen despite the way he was playfully shaking your shoulders and pushing you on the floor in an attempt to get you to listen, you did catch a few spoilers as to what your gift was, but not enough for it to be conclusive. “If you spoil it for me, I’m giving your gift to Kun.”

“Not Kun! I’ll stop, I’ll stop!” He shuts his mouth. “What would you do with his present though?”

“He’d just get a double gift,” you shrugged, picturing the personalized piano book in your head. It would’ve been very awkward if you gave it to Kun, actually. It wasn’t much, but you compiled all the songs that meant a lot to you and Chenle into one piano book, it included the song you were listening to when you first ran into him, the one that was playing during your first date, the one he sang to you on your first anniversary, and etc. You hoped that it would be the sentiment that shone the most, it’s a lot harder to shop for an idol that you’d think.

Meanwhile, right next to you, Chenle played around with the simple promise ring in his pocket, he did genuinely want to give it to you right now, especially now that NCT continues to rise in popularity, he felt bad that he couldn’t spend much time with you anymore, it wasn’t much, but he wanted you to know that he really did care for you so much. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	3. Christmas Decorating (Outdoors) - Jisung

“Jisung,” you held one of the strings supporting the obnoxiously large Christmas inflatable while you held out your other hand. Without a moment’s hesitation, he placed his own hand in it and held it tightly. You looked at your hands, then up at him, a goofy grin was on his face with starry eyes. “Thanks, love, but I meant for you to hand me one of those stakes.”

“Oh! Right, right,” he grabs the metal stake and hands it to you. You tie the rope around it a few times and hammer it into the ground. “Well, that’s one inflatable down,” he nods.

“We just have to set up these candy cane lights and we’ll be set,” you brushed the dirt off of your hands and stood up, looking around the yard.

Jisung decided to spend some time with you at your place before awards season kicked off, you were slightly saddened at the thought that he wouldn’t be joining you for Christmas this year, and you were even more disappointed at the news that you wouldn’t be allowed to spend it with him either, but you didn’t let that drive a wedge between this newly developed relationship between the two of you. You’ve actually been working for the company for quite some time now, and naturally that was how the two of you met. This would’ve been your first Christmas together, but the company had other plans, it would seem.

Regardless, you both settled on helping your parents decorate the outside of the house. Jisung had a break for a couple of days, and you were thankful that he decided to spend it with you; however, you could tell that this wasn’t what he had in mind. When your parents came up to you with the dreaded box that read ‘Outside Christmas’ you were already cancelling the movie plans you originally had planned. Jisung was a bit quiet at the beginning of decorating, but it wasn’t long into the work when he started to get into it, and now you’re both as happy as could be.

“How do we push these into the ground?” Jisung held up one of the gaudy candy canes.

“I’m pretty sure we attach these stakes to them and just… push,” you attached one of the plastic stakes to the bottom of the metal candy cane and pushed it into the dirt. Or, at least, tried to. “Or maybe not,” you laughed.

“Let me try,” Jisung replaces you next to the candy cane and with one forceful push, the metal decoration embeds into the dirt. “Wow… that’s harder than I thought. How many more of these do we have to do?”

“Nineteen…”

“Wah,” Jisung’s jaw drops suddenly. “And we can’t hammer it into the ground?”

“Mm mm,” you hummed and shook your head. You picked up two candy canes, handing one to Jisung, and moved opposite to the first candy cane and pushed with all your might, watching the cane dig into the ground. You both continued like this for quite some time, embedding each candy cane, until you noticed a peculiarity on the canes. “Oh, there’s a small platform here,” you looked at the metal that protruded from the bottom of the candy cane. You stepped on it harshly and the candy cane fixed into place.

“Ah!”

“What? What’s wrong?” Jisung looked up, having placed down his own cane already.

“The small platforms on them are supposed to help us push it into the ground!” You held up a cane and pointed to it. You both looked down at the row of canes you had just finished pushing in. “Ah…”

“Well… noted for next year,” Jisung wipes away the sweat on his forehead.

“Noted for next year!” You nodded, pushing in the last candy cane.

Jisung watched you finish the row of candy canes with an amazed look on his face. He had to admit that this wasn’t what he had in mind when he came over for the first time, and he would’ve preferred if your parents weren’t sitting on the front porch watching the both of you the whole time, especially now that he knew why they were snickering the whole time while you were both struggling to push the candy canes in, but he also felt like this was a good development in the relationship. He was rather new to these things, inexperienced in the world of dating, his only friends had really been the Dreamies and nothing more for quite some time, and all of this was more fascinating to him. He felt bad that he asked you to excuse his naivety so often, but he was also thankful that you didn’t seem to mind, or at least you never held it against him. He really hoped he could do this again next year, in fact, he looked forward to it. Even though the both of you would be apart this year, he was looking forward to the holidays. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	4. Hot Chocolate - Johnny

“(Y/N)!” Your boyfriend of two years called out to you. You looked up from your spot on the bench and saw Johnny making his way towards you, two biodegradable cups in his hands. “What are you doing here?” He asks.

“I was waiting for this place to open,” you put your phone back into your purse and pointed at the ceramics store as he sat next to you, handing you one of the cups. “What’s this?”

“Hot chocolate, true to our December tradition,” he tugs on his scarf slightly before taking a drink.

“Why’re you here?” You asked. He points behind him.

“Filming a JCC over there with Jaehyun,” he says. “He actually saw you out here before I did.”

“Sometimes I think that Jae might be my _actual_ boyfriend,” you teased him.

“Jae? Nah, never, you know him.”

“Yeah, I do,” you laughed. Johnny pulled his mask up and drank more of his hot chocolate, and you drank your own slowly, being sure not to burn your tongue.

It had snowed the night before and the ground was covered in a rather shallow layer of snow, enough to still walk in but not to impede movement, and there was a slight chance of more soon. You and Johnny had this little tradition of meeting up at this exact place with a ceremonial cup of hot chocolate true to how the two of you met in the first place. He was on schedule, you were late to work, you both had hot chocolate, and you both ended up in the hospital.

That’s a story for another time, though.

For now, sitting next to each other in the cold, this was all you needed. It’s a nice change of pace from the mess that is your life at the moment. You had to admit, it must’ve looked comical to see someone of your stature next to Johnny’s on this bench, and it probably looked sketchy for someone like you to be next to someone who was essentially covered head-to-toe, the life of a celebrity out in public naturally, but also understandable. Despite the many years in your relationship, and despite the fact that you’re rather close with the other 127 members, your relationship as a whole is kept off the radar.

“How’s work?” He asks.

“You know, usual. Boring, got yelled at by my supervisor, but what’s new?” You laughed tiredly. “And you? How’s the company treating you?”

“Shitty as always,” Johnny leans back on the bench and looks up at the sky. “Hey, it’s starting to snow.” You looked up and watched the sprinkles of snow begin to descend, immediately melting upon contact with the lid of the paper cup. You shivered slightly and drank more of your hot chocolate, letting the warm drink keep you cozy despite the freezing temperatures. Johnny moved closer to you and howled loudly, causing you to flinch in your spot.

“Oh my god! Warn me before doing that!” You laughed, making sure none of the hot chocolate spilled on your outfit.

“Just do it (Y/N), it’s cold as fuck and I should’ve bought a larger size.”

“No, what? Look, everyone’s staring at us!” You looked at the sparse amount of people walking around and waved awkwardly.

“You’ll feel so much warmer, promise. Get’s the blood rushing.”

“My blood started rushing when you scared me like that,” you nudged his side. “Plus, you look plenty warm under all those layers, Johnny,” you said his name quietly, being sure that no one was listening.

“Yeah, I’m actually sweating like crazy under this coat. In fact, here, you take it,” he takes it off and places it around your shoulders. The large wool lined coat was heavy around you, immediately warming you entirely despite the freezing weather. Johnny stood up from the bench, the small snow crystals landing delicately on his indigo sweater. “Is it okay if I drop by later?”

“Sure. I’m not doing anything,” you responded. “Why though?”

“Just cuz,” he hums, he looks behind him, the manager calling him back inside. “I’ll see you later then?”

“See you later then,” you watched him walk back into the cafe across the street behind you and you drank the last of your hot chocolate, chucking the cup in the nearest bin to you. You pulled the sleeves of the coat over your arms and walked into the ceramics shop that had finally opened and you pushed your hands into the pockets, then you felt something solid inside of them. You pulled out the small box and rotated it in your hands, it was just about the same size as your palm, and you opened it slowly, having a small expectation as what to see. But all you could do was let out a soft chuckle when you pulled out the piece of paper with Johnny’s handwriting scrawled across it.

‘Here’s a little hint for tonight! You’ll have to wait a bit though!’

Meanwhile, in the cafe, Johnny listened to what the barista said carefully every so now and then stealing a glance at the shop across the way. Jaehyun would follow Johnny’s attention and laugh to himself, surprised that his friend could be so whipped for someone he’s known for so long, but Johnny couldn’t say anything about that. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	5. Gingerbread House - Yuta

“This form of structure doesn’t seem very safe,” Yuta jokes quietly as he lines the sides of the gingerbread walls with frosting.

“Not at all, but it is delicious,” you took some frosting and ate it while attaching the other walls.

“Agreed, don’t eat all the icing before we finish the house,” he laughs.

“Of course not!” You took one of the roof panes and decorated it while Yuta held the foundation four walls together, waiting for the icing to dry.

Yuta arrived about an hour ago, gingerbread house kit in hand and the bright idea to build it. Although you must admit that your artistic vision and his differ quite largely, you would say the combined effort made something that could only be described as unique. Believe it or not, it was actually your anniversary today, two years, to be exact, and although Yuta preferred to take you out on a proper dinner, the amount of unwanted attention surrounding NCT as a whole has been rather staggering. As a result, you both decided to stay at your place for the duration. Yuta did take it upon himself to do a majority of the planning despite this, starting with the gingerbread house and ending with what he only described as a ‘surprise’ and that you didn’t have to worry about it.

“Do you think it’s dry yet?” He asks. You placed your finger on some of the icing.

“Feels dry to me,” you answered. Yuta removed his hands slowly and when the foundation stayed in place, he let out a confident hum. “Now for the hard part,” you gestured towards the roof panes that you had finished up on quite a while ago. Yuta iced the top of the cookie rooftops and you placed the first roof pane, and he was quick to place the other. You both held the bottoms of them, being sure to keep them in place as they dried.

“Now this is what I call abstract art,” he looks at the haphazardly done lines of icing and candies.

“I was going for a casually messy aesthetic for it, I think it’s worthy of a museum in my opinion,” you moved your hand slowly to see if the icing has dried, and when the roof pane moved slightly you were quick to put it back into place.

“I never said it wasn’t,” he laughs. “I might bring this back to the dorms with me,” he says.

“No way.”

“Why not?”

“Jungwoo might eat it…”

“It is gingerbread,” he removes his hands slowly and the roof stays in place. “Hey, I talked to the company about taking Christmas off.”

“Oh?” Your ears perked up at this, it was very rare that you got spend the holidays with Yuta, despite his constant requests to, because of Awards season he would frequently get declined.

“After some compromises, they actually approved it this time,” he says with a smile.

“They did? That’s great! But also new, what were the compromises?” You asked him.

“Eh, nothing too big, just that I’d come in a bit earlier for sessions is all,” he nods.

“Ah, I’ll actually have to clean my room this Christmas,” you let go of your own roof pane and the Gingerbread House was set and ready. Yuta iced the area around the house, probably going for a snowy motif, and you both started placing the gummy decorations around it, a new found smile upon your face because of the good news.

Despite the length of your relationship, you were actually starting to grow quite worried. You were both in the _comfortable_ stage, you both had mutual trust in each other and had no reason to suspect the other of anything, but because of that conversations between the two of you became sparse, and as his schedule became busier and your job became more demanding, it only got worse. At this point, you’d take any opportunity to spend more time with him, and what’s better than to spend Christmas with one another?

Yuta, on the other hand, took his time to enjoy this moment, he was dreading the two weeks to come, actually, but he knew it would pay off once it was over. The compromises he ended up settling with were extended hours, he’d have to make up for the time lost somehow, and the only other way to do it was to spend more time in the studio. The other members of NCT were quick to retaliate with the company, most insisting that Yuta didn’t need the hours, but they stood firm and instead the members decided to divide shifts as to who would stay over with him and he was grateful for that. Though it paled in comparison to what he had planned for once he would finally take the day off on Christmas, he was going to put his all into reviving what has become ‘comfortable’ in his relationship with you. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	6. Christmas Lights - Shotaro

“Ah, (Y/N)? Let’s take a picture here!” Your boyfriend Shotaro called out behind you.

“I’ll be there!” You looked away from the brilliant display of Christmas lights and walked over to him, he was under a small canopy of white lights with a huge smile on his face while he waved you over. He was right next to a messy but charming bundle of lights that you could only assume was supposed to mimic a bouquet of sorts “Wait, wait, stay just like that! I’m going to take a picture of you there first!” You took your phone out and walked a bit closer to him, focusing the camera first on the lights and snapping a picture, then you focused it on him and took another. You looked at the results first, in the second picture you were almost entranced by the way the lights reflected off of Shotaro’s eyes, it had a slight playful atmosphere to it.

“Can I see?” He walks next to you and looks at the picture. “Wow, I look cute!” He gushes.

“You always look cute,” you laughed. “I had to take the picture while I had the chance,” you let him move you to the light fixture. He snapped a quick selfie with you, and maybe five more, before he took out his polaroid.

“My turn to take a picture of you,” he hops back and holds the camera up.

“Should I do something cute?”

“You’re already cute,” he chuckles. He takes a picture and places the developing polaroid in his pocket.

“Just one?” You asked him.

“Yup.”

“Can I see it?”

“Nope.”

“Hey! Why not?” You feigned hurt and he laughed.

“It hasn’t developed yet,” he says. You both walk down the rest of the Christmas Light showcase slowly, taking your time with each other. You had to be honest, when Shotaro brought the idea up to you, you had originally thought the displays would be rather gaudy, but it was actually the opposite. You’ve always been a simple person, and so has he, so when you both arrived at the simply minimalistic light display you immediately found it charming. Not to mention the cute pictures you’ve both taken, it’s a shame that you couldn’t post them because, you know, your boyfriend’s an idol. The media would have a field day. You were lucky enough that not a lot of people were here, and the ones that were didn’t seem to recognize Shotaro at the very least. “Hey, I appreciate you flying out to Korea for me,” Shotaro suddenly says.

“Of course, I had to support your big debut! We’ve been waiting for this! And like hell I was gonna miss it,” you pulled him next to a coffee stand and ordered two regulars before continuing. “You know we’re all proud of you, right?” You handed him the warm drink and he took it with both hands.

“Yeah, I know, I’ll be a bit honest, I was really scared when I first debuted, I saw everything on Twitter,” he admits sadly. “The older members told me not to worry about it, but I couldn’t help but let it get to my head a little.”

“I know, I saw them too. Your parents were so upset,” you sighed.

“Good thing you came when you did! I don’t think I would’ve felt too good if you didn’t,” Shotaro smiles.

“I know what it’s like to travel to a country by yourself and, you know, live there. So I wanted to give you all the support I can!” You reassured him. The lights in front of you started to grow dim and you and Shotaro immediately turned to them. “Ah, I almost forgot, they said that they would have a small light show at the front, right?” You watched the beautiful array of colors changing at modest speeds to the track that played overhead. They were bursts of cool colors, blues, purples, and indigos alike. They were certainly a sight to behold.

Shotaro, however, was looking at a different beauty. He couldn’t help but admire the way the lights landed on you, he was as mesmerized as you were. What did he do to deserve you, truly? Coming out all the way from Japan to Korea just to support him, surely you could have been doing something else, going to classes, getting a job, etc., but no, you’re standing right next to him. You didn’t even bat an eye when he warned you about being seen in public with him, ‘To hell with it’ you said, it didn’t matter what anyone else said about it, your relationship was between you and him. Shotaro admired you in more ways than one, certainly. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	7. Playing in the Snow - Haechan

“Clear out!” You ecstatic shout could be heard when you jumped face first into the pile of snow, a cloud of, well, snow kicked up around you and landed around you. You rolled over and made a cute snow angel amidst the snowy landscape.

The kind of dates you could have with a rather _popular_ idol are, as expected, limited. But not limited to snowy backyards, luckily. So when Hyuck was finally on break, you were amongst the first to greet him when he came home, surprisingly you and his mother were just talking about him, all good things, naturally, and what a surprise, there was the man of the hour. Now, while she was making lunch, you decided to catch up with him outside.

“How childish,” Haechan teased once he walked up to you. He helped you up and put a scarf around your neck. “You’re going to get sick if you just jump into snow like that, you know,” he laughs.

“Thank you, love,” you pulled the scarf up to your nose, but you shouldn’t have let your guard down. Especially around Haechan, you’ve been dating for this long and you made such a rookie mistake. And you knew this when a devilish glare came to his eye and he shoved you into the nearest pile of snow. “I hate you,” your giggles contradicted the meaning of the sentence. You held your hand out for him to help you, and once his own laughs died down, he grabbed onto your hand. This is where he made his own mistake, after all, this relationship was built on joy and playfulness, and such was made clear when you yanked him down with you, your boyfriend of a year planting his face on the pile of snow next to you.

The snowy backyard was filled with pure joy, chuckled and cackles alike filled the winter air. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to lie down on the snow for so long, but it was entirely worth it to just be with Hyuck. You both didn’t talk about much, just enjoyed each other’s presence. There was a small conversation here and there about what has been happening in the other’s lives.

“Are we too old to make snowmen?” You asked him.

“Age is just a number, I’ll get the beanie and scarf.”

“I got the rest then.”

“Done.”

Needless to say the snowman was rather sad, actually. Crudely made but filled with love, ironically a bit like your relationship, the snowman stood remarkably strong despite the winter winds.

“I think it’s cute,” you adjusted the scarf around its neck and smiled. “We did a good job!”

“Yes we did,” Haechan nods. He pulls the beanie further down in place. “I’m sure everyone would be jealous of our snowman,” he takes a quick picture to upload to his secret instagram account.

You watched Haechan finish up the snowman with the small lumps of coal to make its face, something you were surprised that his mother had, but thankful regardless. Haechan had a strange knack for artistry that you silently wished that Hyuck would just tap into, but he had his own ways of letting it show. Truth be told, as soon as he walked in, you could see how tired he was. You felt bad, almost like you were trespassing for whatever reason. You just hoped that you could alleviate some of that stress, this year wasn’t the easiest on him and you would know that better than anyone.

Haechan, as he finished up the snowman, thought to himself. He found it remarkable actually, he was just thinking about you before he got home, he wanted to tell you everything he’s been up to and finally have a chance to unload, but it was during this train of thought that he realized that he hasn’t really been holding up his end of the bargain, has he? He resolved that as soon as he got home he’d work on fixing things up nicely, and what a surprise, you were sitting with his mom in the kitchen like some divine wish giver was listening. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	8. Christmas Caroling - Taeil

“What do you think about this, Taeil?” You held up a rather darling scarf and he looked at it for a short while.

“Not sure if that’s really your style, (Y/N),” he hums. You laughed quietly, so as not to disturb the other store patrons.

“It’s for your _mom_.”

“Oh! Okay, in that case it’s great,” Taeil smiles and gives you a thumbs up. “But, I think she’d like this blue one more,” he picks up the scarf next to the one you were looking at and handed it to you.

“You’re the boss,” You placed it into the basket and continued throughout the store, buying the rest of the necessary gifts and paid for them. On your way out with Taeil, a chorus of voices caught your ear. “Oh look! Christmas carolers!” You listened to their melodies and smiled, you always had a heart for music, probably why you and Taeil got along so well, and you were always the kind of person to support artists whenever you could.

“We should drop by and see how they’re doing then,” Taeil offers. You nodded your head a tad too excitedly and he let you drag him with you, pulling his mask over his face a bit higher. The carolers voices crescendoed as you got closer, and soon they sung their finale, the pianist ending the set with a flourished trill before hitting the final chord.

“I’m sorry I missed your set! But my boyfriend and I wanted to say that what we heard sounded great!” You complimented them.

“Ah, thank you so much!” One of the carolers bowed their head and you clapped your mittened hands together. Taeil dropped a few bills into the bucket on the side while the caroler continued. “We were actually caroling to raise funds for the orphanage behind us, they usually give gifts for the children.”

“Usually?”

“The pandemic really hit the system hard, not a lot of donations this year.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” you looked at the sparse collection of money in the bucket.

“We can probably help!” Taeil speaks up. “I can sing too, if you guys want,” he offers.

Now you were surprised when he offered to sing, because you had expected that he’d want a break from the singing after doing it 24/7 for nearly the entire year. But Taeil did have a tendency to surprise you. He took his mask off and did a quick and quiet vocal warm up.

“Oh, we appreciate it a lot, but you don’t have to!” The pianist spoke up.

“Nonsense, it would be a shame if Santa couldn’t drop by here this year,” Taeil insisted. He walks next to the piano. “Do you mind?” He asks.

“Be my guest,” the pianist walked away from the bench and stood aside while Taeil got ready. Then he began his song. It was just a simple cover of ‘Grownup Christmas List,’ but there was something about it that was moving.

“It’s Taeil from NCT!” A sudden shout came from somewhere in the plaza, and, you could swear, it was only a blink of an eye before multiple people were by you and the carolers. At the nod of a head, the carolers joined in with Taeil and began to harmonize with him.

You were genuinely blown away, you’d thought that after dating Taeil for now running three years you would’ve gotten used to this, but no, you’re always starstruck when you hear his voice. It always did, though now it just occurred to you that you’re probably going to have to walk away when he’s done like the two of you didn’t even know each other, an old protocol that you and Taeil had longed established quite some time ago. But, at this very moment, you were just as enraptured by his performance as the multitudes of people around you, but, perhaps it was just you, but his song felt a bit more different. And just like Christmas magic, the bucket was filled, two even, with enough funds to provide for the orphanage for the year.

Christmas magic, Taeil thought to himself constantly. After years of working on Christmas, he almost forgot that it was an actual thing. Maybe this was cheating a little, actually, and he wasn’t looking forward to the stern words of his manager, not for singing in public, no, it’s that he’s out in the open with no staff around. But he didn’t really care about that right now, actually, contrary to the current belief, he was singing for you. Something he hasn’t actually done in quite some time. Now that SM finally let him take a holiday off, he wanted it to be unforgettable. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	9. Christmas Festivals - Jaehyun

“Babe, no,” Jaehyun’s voice chuckled while he tugged you away from the festival game.

“Babe, _yes_.”

You and Jaehyun had decided to go to a Christmas festival to celebrate his first day on break from the company. You both arrived rather early to avoid the big crowds, for obvious reasons, and you enjoyed the festivities leisurely before the night crowd would come in and, you know, your boyfriend is _Jaehyun_. It wouldn’t end well. The masks did enough to keep your identities hidden but only for so long. Regardless, you spent the day trying samples of cookies and jams, partaking in small games, etc. You both had a general good time despite the circumstances. But now, as your time at the festival came to a close, meaning someone nearly recognized Jae, you were both on your way out until a particular stuffed animal caught your eye.

“You suck at basketball,” Jaehyun laughs.

“But you don’t,” you looked up at him with _those_ eyes and Jaehyun sighs.

“I hate how you do that.”

“No you don’t.”

“You’re right, I don’t. Which one do you want?” With a giddy smile you pulled him over to the basketball festival game and pointed at the stuffed reindeer at the top, the cute animal had sparked an old memory in your head. “Okay, alright, how do we get that one up there?” He asks the game manager.

“Four hoops in a row,” the tired employee explains.

“Alright, I’ll take five then” Jae places a $5 bill on the counter and the employee takes it, replacing it with five basketballs. He shoots his first one and misses, but not to be afraid, he still has the four.

While Jae got ready to shoot his next basket, you watched on the sidelines, remembering a much older memory of when you and Jae went to this very same festival years ago, before he even debuted. You were just close friends at the time and oh how things have changed. You were surprised the relationship occurred, actually, especially due to the nature of his job, but if anything it made the bond between the two of you stronger. While you were caught in your nostalgia, you failed to notice that Jaehyun had won the stuffed animal until he placed it in your hands.

“Your welcome, babe,” he cuts into your thoughts, waving his hand in front of your face.

“Oh my god, you actually got it,” you laughed.

“What do you mean? You said it yourself that I’m good at games like those.”

“I know but to get four in a row?” You were a bit surprised, but you hugged the cute reindeer to your chest. “I don’t think I’ve been more impressed in this relationship,” you handed him his cap when you saw someone pointing at the both of you. He brushed his hair into it and placed it on before continuing.

“What can I say? I’m just the _perfect_ boyfriend,” he wraps a hand around your waist and pulls you closer as you both approached a crowd of people. A bit bold than usual, you noted, especially around people. Was he really that confident that he wouldn’t get noticed?

The answer is no, not really. Jaehyun never really understood the taboo that was dating in his line of work, truth be told he kind of hoped that someone would recognize him, but at the same time he didn’t want to open you up to that war zone that was the media, with how NCT’s been doing that wouldn’t be a good move on his part. He looked at the reindeer in your hands while you both made your way out of the festival, maybe it was a jump, and maybe it was his inner romantic, but when you asked him to get it for you he was reminded of when you were kids and he won you a small reindeer keychain at the ring toss game, it was so long ago he’d be surprised if you did remember, to be honest, but it was really the only reason why he said yes to try to win it for you. He opened the door for you and stood outside of his car for a moment longer before stepping into the driver’s seat. He had finally convinced the company to let him take a break this month, something he desperately needed, and what better than to spend it with you, someone he had embarrassingly not prioritized in quite some time. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	10. Cold Mornings - Xiaojun

If there was one flaw to the Christmas season, it was the overbearing cold in the mornings.

You hated them with a passion, so much so that you would bundle up in blankets every night, however many necessary to stay warm. It certainly didn’t help that your small apartment’s heater was all but functional, having busted entirely at the beginning of the month and due to holiday no one has been in to fix it yet. Thus, blankets. Loads of them. Weighted, heated, fluffy, you name it, you probably had it. All were gifted to you by your relatives, of course, save for the weighted one that was from your boyfriend himself. See, it was easy to bundle up in the comfort of your own home in your own comfy bed, naturally. But when Dejun finally got the weekend off and asked to spend it with you the obvious result is that you’d both be in the same bed together.

Despite the two years you both had under your belts, this was actually the first time you and Dejun were able to spend any time during December together, as since it’s usually Awards season you’d have to wait until the new year to see him again.

Look, you love Dejun, you really do, but he’s on the couch if he thinks he can take your mounds of blankets from you.

That is the resolution you came to when you woke up _cold_ and _bitter_ at five in the morning You turned to your side and saw Dejun comfortably wrapped in all _five_ of your blankets. With shaking hands and chattering teeth, you grabbed onto one of the ends of the blanket and pulled it over you, rolling in bed until you were perfectly cocooned in them. You figured that Dejun could go a couple of hours without it.

But no, you were wrong.

Within a minute of you finishing your perfectly crafted cocoon, it was all pulled away from you, and back over to the intruder next to you.

“Dejun, quit it,” you pulled the blanket to your side again.

“It’s cold,” he tiredly argues, tugging it back.

“I’m well aware,” you continued, again trying to pull the weighted fabric to your side.

“Come here then,” Dejun keeps a firm hold on the blanket while reaching to pull you closer.

“No! You’re cold!”

“I wouldn’t be if you didn’t take the blanket,” he sleepily props himself up on his elbow, opening the blanket enough for you to roll into if you so wanted.

“When did you get so strong anyway… the Junnie I saw last couldn’t even open my jam jar…” you mumbled, slowly moving into the blanket. Once you were fully inside, Dejun dropped the blanket and pulled you close to him. “You’re cold…”

“Now I can open all the jam jars you want… Just wait a couple of minutes…” he yawned. “Aren’t I better than this blanket?”

“Sure… sure…” you pulled the blanket up higher, still shivering slightly from the remnant cold. Dejun sighed into the crown of your head while you both slowly started to lull back into sleep.

“What time is it?”

“Like… 5 am?”

“We’ll have to get up soon then, right?” He asks.

“I mean… we don’t _have_ to… I kind of just want to stay like this,” you admitted quietly. You had to be honest, you never really knew how much you missed just _being_ with him until right now, before he dropped by you were just applauding yourself for being a cool strong and independent person after the first couple of months of minor separation anxiety but now that he’s right _here_ , you really wished that you could stay like this longer. He asked you earlier this month what you wanted for Christmas, and you had settled with telling him anything was fine, which you knew must have been no help at all, but truthfully you just wanted to spend at least a day with him, that’s all.

Dejun, on the other hand, was actually thinking very similarly to you. He had originally sent you this weighted blanket because he had heard from Taeyong that using it makes you feel like you’re being hugged, and it’s been such a long time since you and Dejun saw each other in person he figured it would be the next best thing. But goodness, apparently you can be jealous of a blanket, based off of how he felt when he saw you wrapped up in it when you answered the door. Ridiculous, he knows. He even almost hid the blanket from you until he saw you shivering in the kitchen. He spent a lot of time thinking on what he should get you for Christmas, considering that you were never one for extravagance, he finally figured out the next best thing.

Although, he’d prefer to keep it a secret until Christmas, you’d be seeing a lot more of him anyway around that time. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	11. Christmas Songs - Hendery

Hi guys! You must be wondering, where is 23 Days of NCT Day 11? Well… I have it. But I didn’t think it was very appropriate to release it right now because of well… Day 11 (Christmas Songs) was actually Hendery’s day. So primarily because of the current situation with Hendery I have opted to just keep it unreleased right now mostly out of respect to those affected by the situation and out of basic common decency to, as one would say, “read the room.”

There is a second reason that’s a bit more selfish, long time followers of my blog will now that I’ve had to deal with rude anons since I dropped my first series Too Soon, Too Late nearly seven months ago now and it got worse when I started writing Zemblanity and it has since been nearly out of control to the point where I had to turn off anon on multiple occasions. They ranged from things like “oh you’re not a real fan if you write them like this” to “you’re r4c1st for still stanning this group” to things as horrible as telling me to k1ll mys3lf just for writing NCT. As a result, this became my second reason not to upload this installment.


	12. Baking - Jungwoo

“Jungwoo, can you preheat the oven for me?” You asked him as you poured the cake batter in the baking pan.

Days with Jungwoo, your boyfriend for about a year now, were always special times, especially because you couldn’t have them often because of the nature of his job, naturally, but whenever these days did come you always made unforgettable memories with each other and, no, you don’t mean that in the romantic sense. Sometimes you felt like it was because Jungwoo tried extra hard to make them memorable for you, from getting locked in a mall overnight, having to dodge fans, and even once about having to fish him out of a fish tank, don’t ask about any of those, they are certainly memorable. This date, although much less _life threatening_ , was no different.

“Yup,” Jungwoo wiped the flour on his hands on his apron and walked over to the oven, setting it to 180 degrees celsius before returning to the bread dough he was kneading, stepping over the ingredients that had fallen to the floor and neither of you have picked up yet for whatever reason.

Now one must wonder, how did the kitchen turn into a disaster scene?

A simple question with a simple answer, really.

You and Jungwoo have been watching a lot of baking shows together as of late, specifically the Great British Baking Show. It looked simple enough so you both figured to give it a try but, needless to say, maybe Jungwoo should just stick to showbiz and you should stick to writing because the process so far has not been sightly. Flour was scattered on the floor and walls, broken egg shells where they shouldn’t be, milk and sugar were splattered on the stove, the only thing that would make this worse is if you both somehow got something on the ceiling.

“(Y/N)?”

“Don’t say it, babe.”

“Yeah I got dough stuck on the ceiling.”

“Oh god… why isn’t it coming down?”

“I think I over kneaded it,” Jungwoo put his hands on his hips.

“No, babe, it looks… under kneaded…” you stared at it on the ceiling. “How’d it even get up there?”

“Taeil told me that the best way to knead bread was to throw it on the table,” Jungwoo laughs.

“Wait, so why did you throw it upwards?”

“Fall damage.”

“Oh my god,” you laughed. “You’re cleaning that up, not me.”

“Of course I’m cleaning it up I’m the only one who can reach—” you wiped a handful of cake batter on his face before he can finish. “Oh this is war,” Jungwoo smeared flour on your face. You took a spatula filled with icing and flung it in Jungwoo’s general direction, and he was about to do the same with jam until the door opened.

“Mark! I’m here to pick up the—” Doyoung gasped. “What the _hell_ is going on here?!”

Oh, right, you were at the dorms right now.

“Hi… Doyoung…” Jungwoo waved nervously with a cute smile on his face.

“It was Jungwoo’s idea,” you pointed the dripping spatula towards your boyfriend and he gasped.

“Why I—”

“I had a feeling,” Doyoung sighs, he opens his mouth to say something again, but opts to turn around and pinch the bridge of his nose instead. “I just… oh god, okay, I’m going to leave now, and when I come back, the kitchen won’t look like an earthquake hit. Yeah, yes, okay,” he shut the door without another word and you and Jungwoo broke out in laughter.

“My idea, huh?”

“You’re the one who wanted to bake, so technically yes,” you pushed the cake into the oven and closed it.

Ah, leave it to Doyoung to make you laugh. A memorable day indeed, you would say. There was nothing better than spending the holiday season with Jungwoo, of course you couldn’t go out like traditional couples, but any time with him is better than none, you would argue. And the way you’d always come home and reminisce in all the memories fondly is what you enjoyed the most about them. You turned to Jungwoo to thank him, but right before you could say anything you were reminded of a rather sticky mess, one that _landed_ on Jungwoo’s head.

“Oh god—” you grabbed a towel but quickly realized that under kneaded bread dough is going to take more than just a towel to remove.

“Pfft,” Jungwoo stifled back a laugh while he took of the bigger chunks of dough out of his hair before laughing fully again, and you couldn’t help but join in.

Now Jungwoo, surprisingly, wasn’t embarrassed at all. You’ve seen so many different sides of him that he can barely remember as much anymore, he was just happy to see you smiling again. He almost never has time to do so much as send you texts as often anymore, which is why he always strived to make these times together memorable, he always finds ways to keep him in your mind somehow because, truth be told, Jungwoo’s been rather worried as of late. He hasn’t been keeping up with the so-called “boyfriend duties” and, maybe he’s just afraid, maybe not. This date didn’t go as planned, certainly, he didn’t plan to destroy the kitchen, but seeing the way you smiled and had fun with him was enough to make him add today to the memory book. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	13. Knitting - Jeno

Were you surprised that Jeno was rather enthusiastic about knitting? No, actually, not at all, the boy had a heart of gold you knew he’d pick this up easily. Were you surprised that he was having a bit of trouble with it? Also no, when it came to more dexterous activities Jeno tended to take longer to get the hang of it. But were you surprised that he brought it up to you? Yeah, kind of.

It was one of his off-days, today, he finally had a break from the company and first thing he did was show up at your apartment holding two bags and covered head-to-toe and shivering cold. You were quick to turn up the heat in your apartment and let him in, obviously, and once your boyfriend, quite literally, defrosted, he reached in the bag and pulled out knitting needles and yarn and now here you were, watching the Nightmare Before Christmas while knitting various small stockings. Twenty-two to be exact.

Turns out Jeno wanted to make his Christmas gifts extra special and you haven’t bought anything for the boys yet either so you both settled on knitting, well, Christmas stockings.

“I think my hands are about to fall off…” Jeno collapses on the couch, leaving the knitting needles on his chest.

“You can do it, babe, ten more to go,” you responded, focused on the needles in your hands. You actually picked it up rather quickly, you were slightly more proficient at it than Jeno, that’s for sure.

“How many more do you have to do?”

“Two.”

“Ugh, what was I thinking?” He sits up and gets back to work. “Okay, I can do this, I can do it.”

“Yes you can!”

“Yes I can!” Jeno started working again at a new found vigor and went straight back to the small stocking he was knitting. You had to be honest, Jeno was actually _really good_ at knitting, it just took him longer to knit just one of them, whether that was because the joints on his hands were on the stiffer side or because he wanted them to be perfect was beyond you, but you found the sentiment very sweet.

“You doing okay, Jeno?” You finished up your last share and saw him knitting a deer into one of the stockings, Sungchan’s no doubt, and once he finished it he showed it to you.

“I am so fucking good at knitting,” Jeno laughs and flashes you a smile.

“How many more do you have to do?”

“Seven.”

“Ah you’re almost done then!”

  
“That’s right,” Jeno starts on the next one after deleting Sungchan’s name off of his list. “You done?”

“Mmhmm,” you counted the stockings on your side again just in case, twelve stockings laid perfectly complete on the table next to you.

“Okay, come here then!” He placed the needles down and held his arms towards you. “I need to recharge,” he made small grabby motions and you relented, moving over to lie down on his chest while he got back to work.

“You’re not cold anymore,” you teased him.

“Oh my god it’s freezing outside,” he chuckles. He seems to have gotten the hang of it now, working a bit faster than before.

Jeno seems to have been taking a lot more days off, now that you thought about it, or at least he’s been visiting you a lot more than usual. Not that there was anything wrong with that! You were just a bit worried that there was something going on at the company or at the dorms you didn’t know about, he’s even slept over a couple of times already and you couldn’t help but wonder if something was up. You’ve even found out that he’s been leaving some things at your apartment on accident and for “safety reasons” he just tells you to keep it instead of returning them to him. You weren’t complaining, you felt like you haven’t seen him all year, after all, but you were a tad curious.

But, little did you know, if you had just _asked_ Jeno he would’ve cracked and told you everything he’s been planning. It was such a long time ago, actually, while you were both kids. You both had met because you were both trainees at SM, you having left after realizing that the chances of debuting was too small for you but encouraging Jeno to stay because you knew he had talent. Probably safe to say that you both never lost touch with each other recently and surprise now you’re dating. It was a silly activity that the younger trainees were doing, just a ‘what do you want for Christmas?’ and he realizes that you were both young and dumb, but he figured what’s wrong with giving you that gift a few years later? But then again, he really wanted to surprise you when he finally tells you that he got approval from the company to move in with you. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	14. Christmas Ornaments - Doyoung

“Let’s see here…” Doyoung looked through the boxes of ornaments that were stored in your closet, trying to find the best ones that matched the theme of the tree for this year.

Doyoung had come over on one of his days off to help you decorate your tree for the holidays, he had already appealed to the company to let him take at least Christmas Eve off to spend it with you and luckily, for once, they obliged. He was mainly happy because it’s your first Christmas together as a couple, and he wanted nothing more than to spend it with you. As a result, you are currently wrapping the red velvet ribbon around the tree while he looks for appropriate ornaments. But he must have been taking a while, because you walked up next to him and asked if he needed help.

“Having some trouble, love?” You asked him in a teasing manner.

“I just can’t believe you have so many,” Doyoung sets aside another box of ornaments.

“Yeah, my parents always send me some,” you sat next to him on the floor and went through the boxes with him. “I never have the heart to tell them to stop or to sell them, so I just stack them in my closet,” you admitted bashfully. He pulls out a peculiar box and looks at it.

“What’s this?” He asks, showing it to you. He looks in the closet and sees dozens more. “And why do you have so many?” He laughs.

“Oh, it’s an ornament making kit, my younger cousins always want to make some when they come over, so I always buy them, but we end up having extras and I keep forgetting so I buy more,” you took the box and shook it lightly, listening for broken pieces.

“We can make one if you want?” He offers, and when he saw the way your eyes lit up he could’ve sworn he heard an angels’ choir. So, with a box of red ornaments in hand alongside the ornament making kit, you both walked back to the Christmas Tree and got to work. Finally settling to do the kit last.

Now, Doyoung will admit this, he’s not the most creative when it comes to these kinds of things. You each painted one half of the ornament, yours was a snowy landscape with a cute snowman and his was a simple Christmas Tree, but when he handed you his half he was happy to see the way your eyes lit up. You snapped the two plastic pieces together, properly painted on and ready to go and you walked up to the tree, placing it in a conveniently bare area that Doyoung may have left specifically for that ornament. You place it in a way that both sides were shown and stepped back, admiring the both of your work on the tree.

“I like it,” you smiled. Luckily the kits came in different colors each, so you both worked on the red one and it fit perfectly on the tree. You were actually rather looking forward to this, you were a bit ashamed to say it out loud, but you had originally bought the kits with Doyoung in mind, then you got a bit excited and bought… a dozen of them. You were secretly hoping that this could be a new tradition you could start, but as soon as you got home and realized _‘Oh wow I just bought a dozen plastic ornament making kits’_ you got a bit embarrassed by how childish it seemed and hid them in your closet. So when Doyoung happened to find them ~how~ and asked if you wanted to make one you had to make sure you weren’t dreaming and you had to reel yourself in so you didn’t sound too excited.

“Me too,” Doyoung nodded and took a quick picture. He’s upload it on his close friends story later. Maybe he was being a bit of a romantic, but when he saw the kits piled up on each other he secretly hoped that you and him would do this more often, it didn’t seem like it but he found it charming that you had so many of them. He’d honestly love to bring it up to you that he wanted it to become an annual thing, but would it be overstepping his boundaries if he did? The relationship was still fairly new, you were both just nearing your 100th day, a whole event he’d have to plan for separately, fear not he already has the rest of 127 on board, and he didn’t want to seem too enthusiastic. And maybe he was just reaching, but when he saw how happy you were when he asked maybe you were thinking the same way. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	15. Holiday Pictures - Renjun

“Okay, okay, I’m going,” you felt Haechan push you gently. “What’s this all about anyway? And can I take the blindfold off?”

“No,” Haechan spoke up.

“You’re going to like it a lot, though, (Y/N), Ren— mmph!” Chenle is suddenly cut off when someone, supposedly, clasped their hand over his mouth.

“I mean, he did get _all_ of us in on it so…” Jeno’s voice was next.

What could’ve possibly landed you in this situation, you may ask? You were simply just visiting your boyfriend of two years Renjun at the dorms, when, as soon as you knocked, Haechan opened it and dragged you in. In a whirlwind of events, including you voluntarily putting a blindfold on, being ushered out of the dorms, into a car with a rather bumpy ride and who you could’ve sworn was Yangyang shouting but you couldn’t tell because of the blindfold, you were now gently being coerced through what you assumed was a garden based off of the sweet aroma of flowers.

“Okay, we’re here!” Jaemin exclaims. You took the blindfold off and, sure enough, your assumption was correct. You looked around the garden, the walkway lit with candles and quaint paper lanterns lined the trees. “Just follow the wooden path, yeah? See you, (Y/N),” and the Dreamies were gone as fast as they transported you here, meaning _fast_.

“O…kay?” You chuckled awkwardly and walked along the wooden path, you felt somewhat out of place, walking along a beautiful pathway in nothing but sneakers and a casual outfit, then something hanging off one of the tree branches caught your eye. It was your class picture from years ago. You took it off of its clip and looker at it closer, laughing a little at how small Renjun was before continuing on, holding the picture in your hand. You found another one a few steps later, this time it was a class trip to the orchestra, it was a picture of your class group and, again, Renjun was in it. You were starting to see a pattern here, so you took the picture and continue on, knowing what to expect next.

Needless to say your prediction was wrong, you thought the next picture would’ve been your first date but _no_ , it was a picture of an old study session you both happened to go to. Then it was a picture of when he went over to your house to deliver mooncakes his parents had made, and then when you went to his for a similar reason, then it was another class trip to an amusement park, and after so many more that you were surprised he kept, it was finally your first date in a small cafe when you were in high school. Then more sweet memories until, finally, it was a picture of you and Renjun on the day before he left on his train to Korea, the day you broke up, you had no idea that that was going to be your last day together. You stared at it, the rush of feelings from that day coming back to you. You put it at the bottom of the stack and continued on, looking at the pictures from the day you got back together and every date after that, some pictures were the both of you and some were just of you. Then, you came to the last picture, which you recalled was just yesterday actually. It was you fast asleep in the practice room, waiting for Renjun to be finished.

You unclipped that last picture. This was your first year you were together for Christmas, wasn’t it? The sound of a camera shutter confirmed it for you.

“Just a test film,” Renjun waved the polaroid in the air before putting it in his pocket. “Hey, (Y/N),” he looks at the photos in your hand.

“Hi, Junnie,” you smiled. You walked up to him and handed him the pictures. “I can’t believe you kept all of these,” you were in slight awe.

“Ah, most of them were from my mom. She texted them to me last week and told me we looked so cute,” Renjun laughed.

“Sounds like something she’d do,” you answered while Renjun looked through the pictures.

“Shall we add to the collection then?” Renjun stepped next to you and held the polaroid in front of the both of you. He takes the picture quickly and as soon as the polaroid comes out he flipped it over and handed it to you.

You never really realized how long you and Renjun knew each other until now. It was a bit strange to say, but sometimes you truly believed in fate. It was pure coincidence that you and Renjun ran into each other again after that day, you could barely believe it yourself, to be honest. You both happened to be at the right place at the right time, you’d say. You had only entered the company building with a friend of yours who was, surprisingly, a big EXO-L and right as you were exiting he was coming in and the rest was history from there, although you could never really forget the initial shock that was learning that you’ve broken up with your boyfriend from a letter that he left on top of your laptop of all things, and that he had cut off all communication when you found out he changed his number.

Renjun was thinking the same, looking at the printed screenshot of the instagram post of when you and your friend walked into the company building. Maybe he believed in fate too, because if you both never ran into each other that day he would’ve never regained the courage to reconnect and, in the long run, get back together. This was your first Christmas together, even including when you were together for a short time in China, even in the first year when he had commitments to the company and you understood that he wasn’t allowed a break. And he was determined to make this one count, you deserved it more than he did after he broke up with you and was inevitably the one to come back despite the circumstances, the guilt had always eaten away at him especially when he realized that he didn’t know what he lost until it was gone. He’d always be grateful for the second chance you gave him. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	16. Christmas Trees - Ten

“It’s a… very nice tree,” you nodded, you nudged Ten to respond also.

“Huh? I mean, yeah, it’s great,” he responds automatically, looking up from his phone.

“Right?! It’s so darling,” your mother coos while she looks around the tree.

You and Ten agreed to go with your mother to, surprise, go Christmas tree shopping. Honestly you and Ten already had one at home that you decorated together, you only came with your mother because she was so insistent that you both joined her. But you knew there was some hidden intention behind it, it’s one thing to ask you to join her, it’s another for her to ask that you bring Ten along too, and you both theorized about it the night before and now have a running bet for what it could be your mother wanted from the both of you. He bet that it was so she could gloat to her book club friends and you bet that it was anything other than that, with that said, what’s on the line was who was doing dishes for the next month.

“You guys should get a tree too!” Your mother says.

“Oh, we’re okay, we have a small one for the apartment, mom,” you answered her.

“That plastic one your father gave you, you should get a real one! It’ll brighten up the mood, you know?” She insists. “You know your father proposed to me while we were decorating our tree! That’s why this place is so special to us, you know?”

You nudged Ten harshly when a laugh nearly escaped his lips.

“The dishes are waiting for you at home, Chittaphon,” you said under your breath while you glared at him. He swallowed down his laughter and cleared his throat, rolling your eyes at the obvious victorious smirk on your face.

“Is that so, mom?” You walked up next to her and started to absently play with the tree’s branches.

“Mmhmm, we were dating for two years! How long have you and Ten been dating again?”

“Three years,” Ten answers, joining you and your mother.

“Wow, that’s a long time,” your mother presses.

The marriage conversation isn’t a new one to you and Ten, in fact, your mother tends to like to push you both towards it more than she should. But you and Ten were comfortable with how things are right now, it’s not that you _didn’t_ want to get married, it was more like you bother weren’t ready for it yet. To be fair, you wouldn’t really mind how things are right now, you like it just as it is.

“I mean… to be fair, mom, Ten is an idol, it’s hard for them to get married, let alone be in a relationship, I mean, look at him right now, he’s covered head to toe,” you gestured towards your boyfriend absently. “No offense, love, you still look handsome,” you teased, pinching his cheek sweetly before walking off with your mother.

“Ah, that’s true, being an idol isn’t easy, isn’t it, Ten?” Your mom asks. Ten mouthed to you a silent ‘thank you,’ and you nodded subtly so that your mother wouldn’t suspect anything.

Ten was genuinely thinking similarly to you. Although he’s not against marriage, it just wasn’t a good time. Truth be told you both spoke about it separately a while back, it’s just too dangerous to even mention it given his status as an idol, and after seeing the initial backlash from Jongdae’s announcement, you both agreed to keep the relationship under wraps for good, or at least until the “stigma” around dating is finally removed and he could treat you out to a proper date.

“We’ll take this tree, sir!” You called out to the owner.

“I’ll be right there!” He answered, grabbing the axe from the shed and walking over.

“This feels like a horror movie,” Ten whispers to you.

“Shush,” you laughed.

“I’m throwing you in front if he starts swinging.”

“I’m bringing you down with me.”

“Good luck, like you could drag me down,” he pokes your cheek.

“Please, love, those arms are only strong enough to hold Louis and Leon together,” you squeezed his arm while the owner chopped the tree down for your mom.

“Louis is heavy,” Ten rationalized.

“He’s not heavy! He’s just a bit fluffy is all,” you defended the cat.

Ten laughed but his voice jumped a little when the tree fell and the owner hauled it over his shoulder easily, walking off to get it ready for transport. He looked over to you, who was trying hard not to completely gawk at the sheer and unexpected strength of who you both thought was only a lanky owner, and nothing against you, he was equally surprised. But the sudden talk of idols got him thinking, how different would you two be if he never became an idol? If he was still training under SM with no hopes of debut. Where would the two of you be now? It was miracle enough that he got Christmas off, but it would be the first time he spent it with you.

“Ten! We’re going to leave you if you continue spacing out like that,” you called out to him, already by the exit.

“I’ll be there!”

Maybe he was overthinking things, he’s been prone to doing that lately. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	17. Blizzards - Yangyang

“Man… this is lame…” Yangyang frowns, looking behind the curtains of the cabin.

 _“So you won’t be able to make it back in time for the beginning rehearsals?”_ His manager speaks on the other side of the phone.

“No, I don’t think we can leave safely for a few days,” Yangyang backed up from the freezing window pane, the sound of the rushing snow and winds whistling across the cabin.

 _“I see, it can’t be helped. I’ll tell the others. Just come down when you think it’s safe,”_ the manager says. He hangs up the phone first and Yangyang places it down on the table. You popped your head out from the kitchen.

“What did he say?” Your voice was hopeful, and it only widened when a confident smile appeared on his face. “Shut up!”

“Three more days!” He punched the air and you both screamed in excitement.

“Hell yeah!” You jumped on the couch next to him and he tossed you a game controller.

“Best two out of three, (L/N),” he boots up the playstation and started up street fighter.

“Ha! I’ll kick your ass like last time,” you picked your main and he picked his.

Alright, alright, so actually maybe Yangyang did know about the blizzard and maybe that’s why he specifically rented this cabin three days before said blizzard so he would _coincidentally_ be snowed in because of said blizzard and would be able to spend time with his _lovely_ girlfriend before end of the year shows kick off again. But did anyone know about this? _No_ … well… except for Renjun but Yangyang knows that boy won’t snitch. Anyway, with that said you had no clue that was his ulterior motive because he was certain that you’d talk him out of it. Could you blame him? Poor kid hasn’t seen you for months now, especially because WayV started promoting in Korea for whatever reason, it was a miracle that you agreed to fly out to join him.

“Wait! Wait, no, stop it!” Yangyang started button mashing while you hit your perfect combo.

“Aww, come on, Yangyang! You can do it,” you nudged his leg lightly with your foot while you continued to hit him with chain combos. “Dang, when’d you get so bad at this?” You continued to tease him.

“More like when’d you get so good,” he recovered quickly and immediately started his pay back.

“But _damn_ no wonder the PS5’s so expensive, this is nice,” you continued to commentate calmly while Yangyang started trying harder.

Alright, so maybe he was a little out of practice, but he’s been in and out of schedule so that’s not his fault! He glanced over to you while he was trying to remember his old strategies and, good god, the audacity you had to look so calm.

He could fix that.

“Two years ago.”

“Don’t you _dare_ bring that up.”

“Xiaojun.”

“Stop it!”

“Walked in on us.”

“I will literally lock you out of this cabin, Liu Yangyang.”

“Ma—” You finished off his character and threw a pillow at his face. “This is war!”

“Wait! Wait!” You grabbed his remote and placed them safely off to the side where they wouldn’t become collateral damage, then you grabbed another pillow and hurled it at him. He blocked with his own pillow, grabbing the throw blanket and tossing it your way. You were able to successfully move away before you could get trapped in the make shift net and, after grabbing the second pillow you brandished them harshly.

“You’ve been practicing since the last time we fought, I see,” you could see Yangyang getting more competitive.

“I took out eight months apart as an opportunity, my dear,” you pulled off your best RPG character impression.

“I see—” Yangyang is cut off by the sound of a door slamming. You both gasped and ran towards each other, huddling behind a couch. After a minute you both looked at each other and started laughing. “Oh my god…”

“We’re so stupid!” You said between giggles. “Let me check if I left the window open downstairs,” you stood up but Yangyang pulled you back down.

“Later!” He whined.

“If there’s snow in the cabin you’re cleaning it up by yourself.”

“Okay go check!” He pushed you lightly and you laughed again.

“I’m going, I’m going,” you stood up again and descended the stairs. You had to be honest, it was so refreshing to be with Yangyang again after, as afore mentioned, eight months of being apart. You never really knew how boring your life has been until you received an impromptu call from your boyfriend telling you to pack your things because he bought you tickets to Korea. You walked into the downstairs bedroom and saw the window wide open, luckily no snow has made it in save for the puddle of water beneath the window, but that’s easily taken care of. You shut it first before cleaning up the mess.

Yangyang, on the other hand, lay sprawled across the carpeted floor on the second floor, staring at the victory screen on the TV.

God, he missed you.

And he didn’t realize how much until he saw you knock on the door of the cabin, the way your expression lit up was the best way for all his fatigue to just disappear. He needed this, a break from all the promotions and, unsurprisingly, from WayV just for a moment. Don’t get him wrong, he loves the guys, but after being around them 24/7… I’m sure you get it. Yangyang heard your footsteps start to ascend the staircase again and he couldn’t stop the boyish smile from rising on his face again. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	18. Christmas Movies - Jaemin

“What’s on the watchlist today?” Jaemin sits next to you, handing you the bowl of cookies. You habitually drape your legs over his lap and lean back on the arm of the couch.

“Not sure, I’ve been scrolling through for a bit,” you continued going through the movies on Netflix. “Any ideas?”

“Oh, Johnny was telling me about this movie called the Polar Express?” You turned your head to him with a skeptical look.

“You’ve never seen the Polar Express?”

“No? Is it good?” He looks confused.

“I guess it was more popular in western countries than here in Korea… well, I mean it’s kind of weird, but I haven’t seen it in a while so why not?” You shrugged, pulling the movie up on Netflix.

“Wait, give me a really bad run down of it.”

“Kids get kidnapped by a train that takes them to the North Pole to teach them the magic of Christmas but in the end they go back home anyway.”

“I like it, put it on,” Jaemin laughs. You pressed play on the movie and you both got settled. You leaned further behind you and grabbed one of the hot chocolate mugs, handing it to Jaemin while you ate your cookies.

You were a good majority into the movie by now, and naturally you caught onto more details of the movie that you missed when you were younger. Every time you’d glance over at Jaemin to see if he was still watching you could tell that he was weirdly into the movie? Like he was watching it with pique interest. It was kind of cute actually. You grabbed a cookie and slowly moved it towards his mouth and he bit into it without a word, still watching the movie. Was he that into it?

“Nana—”

“Shh.”

“Okay,” he really was into it. You figured it was because Johnny was the one who recommended it to him, but still.

You had to admit that seeing him in this lighting was charming, you felt like you haven’t seen him in ages, actually. When was the last time you were this close to each other, you wondered. You hoped that he was taking breaks, honestly, you of all people would know how hard he worked. You had to give it to him, you’d never be able to handle the life of an idol, all the fans and the lack of privacy, even now you were afraid that someone had a camera pointed at your apartment.

Wait, why were you even thinking about that? You should be paying attention to the movie. You shook yourself out of those invasive thoughts and refocused on the movie.

As the credits started to roll, Jaemin turned over to you.

“(Y/N),” he stopped short of his sentence when he noticed you fast asleep, your head hanging rather uncomfortably off the arm of the couch. Jaemin sighed softly and gently shifted you so that you were more comfortable on the couch. “Who am I supposed to talk to about the movie now?” He chuckles quietly. He reached under the couch and pulled out his secret thermos of coffee and downed it, making sure you were still asleep.

When was the last time he saw you? Had to have been before Ridin’ promotions, he thinks. Then he realized, it really has been a while. He glanced over at you again, you were rather excited when he told you he was coming over, and now look at you, excited yourself to sleep it would seem. He didn’t know how to break it to you that he’d be leaving early tomorrow for NCT promotions. So he did the next best thing.

“Wake up,” he pinched your arm harshly and you jolted awake.

“Oh god, did I fall asleep?” You blinked a couple of times.

“Yeah,” Jaemin laughed. “When’d I lose you?”

“Uh… the hobo?”

“That long?!”

“You didn’t notice I fell asleep?!”

“I was too focused on the movie.”

“I take it that you really enjoyed it then,” a small chuckle escaped your mouth and you stopped the movie.

“Yeah, I can see why Johnny likes it so much, at least,” Jaemin tugs your arm lightly.

“No… I’m so comfy here…”

“And? I haven’t cuddled with you since April, get over here,” he tugs on your arm again and you complied, masterfully turning around and laying down on his shoulder.

“This is nice,” you sighed. “Have you seen a hallmark movie?”

“A what?”

“Oh that’s definitely next,” you snickered, putting on the first one that came up.

Jaemin pulled you closer to him, laying your head on his chest and him placing his chin on the top of your head, he almost forgot how nice it was to hold you like this. He had already tried to appeal to the company for at least Christmas Eve off, but they were rather strict on keeping the Dreamies under their thumb for the majority of the holidays, but if the trade off was your signature cuddles he’d have to try harder, he suspected.

Or…

He could just…

Sneak out of the dorms…

A wicked smirk rose on his face.

He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	19. S'mores - Taeyong

“So you just put two graham crackers together with marshmallows and chocolate in between?” Taeyong asks. You nodded your head.

“Yeah, basically. But you have to roast the marshmallow first a little to your liking so it becomes like the glue for your s’more to stay together,” you placed a marshmallow on one of the metal skewers and handed it to him. “Keep rotating it so that it cooks evenly,” you explained.

“Okay,” Taeyong started rotating the skewer slowly while you made your own s’more.

You and Taeyong had rented out a private campsite that came with a small cabin earlier this week, and you’ve both been taking this long needed break together doing various things like ice skating, fishing, sleeping, and so on. Now, on your last night camping, you decided to eat s’mores together.

“Why are they called s’mores?”

  
“Because you always want s’more,” you laughed. “Ah look, yours might be done already,” you pointed at it and Taeyong pulled his marshmallow out of the fire, it had a hint of toasted brown around it, but otherwise perfect. He constructed his s’more carefully as you finished up your own s’more.

“Ready?” You asked him.

“Yup,” he nodded. You both took a bite of your own s’more and you awaited Taeyong’s reaction.

“It’s good!” He exclaimed.

“I told you!” You wiped the graham cracker crumbs off of the side of his mouth and ate the rest of your s’more. “Here, make s’more…” you laughed again and gave him the bag of marshmallows.

You hoped that Taeyong was enjoying himself, you thought to yourself. You really liked how relaxed he was right now, or at least you hoped he was relaxed. You felt like it’s been forever since you’ve last seen him, him having gone straight into Kick It as soon as SuperM’s world tour ended and the rest has been back to back promotions and filming, you hoped that he was at least able to relax a little in this small vacation of yours. You’ve both been dating a considerable amount of time and you know as well as he does how rowdy the other NCT boys get and, especially now that the other twenty-two are promoting alongside him, you could only imagine the stress he’s under.

“Careful, (Y/N), your marshmallow’s going to burn,” he points out. You blinked a few times before flipping the skewer over to the other side of the marshmallow, the previous side toasted but still edible.

“Thanks, love,” your voice was quiet, just barely projecting over the crackling sounds of the fire in front of you.

“Can you put other foods in this?” He asks.

“I mean, I don’t see why not,” you answered. He handed you the half made s’more and disappeared into the cabin. By the time you pulled your own marshmallow out of the fire, he had returned with a plate of sliced fruits. “Ooh, strawberry s’mores sound great!” Your eyes shone with excitement while Taeyong sat back down next to you, placing the platter between the both of you.

Taeyong watched you with a piqued curiosity. While you both added fruits to the s’mores and ate it silently. He was rather surprised when you visited him in the dorms and asked him if he wanted to go camping with you, the first thought in his mind being ‘What about NCT?’ but a sudden call from his manager implied a hidden intention behind your request. It wasn’t until later, maybe around this morning, when he found out that it was because the company decided to give all the members a break before officials year end promotions started, he found out from Doyoung, who had called him to check up on him.

“Did you know about the break?” He asks you suddenly.

“Mmhmm, your manager called me and told me to ask you to do something with me,” you chuckled. “He and the other managers appealed to SM that you were all a tad too overworked, and it worked, and now we’re here,” you hummed.

“Ah, I see…” Taeyong sighed.

“I would’ve told you, but your manager told me to keep it as a surprise,” you said.

“Ah, okay, it’s fine! I enjoyed my break,” Taeyong leaned back on the chair, looking at the night sky. Christmas was almost here wasn’t it? He looked over to you. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	20. Fireplace - Lucas

“Xuxi! It’s cold,” you sat on the bed alone, cocooned in a blanket, patiently awaiting your boyfriend to finish his sets in the makeshift gym room you both made. But, for whatever reason, he seemed to be taking a longer time than usual. “Xuxi!” You called out again for your unusually warm boyfriend but, again, no response.

Were you left to suffer in silence?

To stay cold for the remainder of the night?

Alone?

In this not so big room?

“Yeah?”

You guess not.

“I’m cold,” you retreated further into the blanket and Xuxi laughed, he had just stepped out of the shower, you’re guessing, based off of the towel on his head and the dry clothes. “Don’t laugh! I literally can’t move because of how cold it is…” you mumbled. Xuxi walked up to you and picked you up, blanket and all, and carried you to the main room, placing you in front of the fireplace, which roared with fire and had nothing but a chain-mesh curtain holding it back. You felt your hands start to thaw out and sighed contently.

“I heard you the first time, so I turned it on, I was surprised you didn’t levitate here or something,” Xuxi teased, pulling up a chair and sitting next to you.

“Of all the times my heater could break…” you grumbled, now beginning to move away from the blanket. You watched the embers dance beautifully, slightly afraid that it would fall upon the stockings in front of the fire place, but nevertheless unafraid.

“Thawed out yet?” He asks.

“Just a second,” you mumbled.

Xuxi was officially on break from the company, only three days, but that was plenty for him. Mind you, you were very thankful that he decided to spend it with you of all the people, but ups were slightly embarrassed by the state of, well, disarray your apartment was in. Namely the broken heater and the busted lock, another story for another time.

Actually, forget it, quick story time since it happened literally _yesterday_ , and part of you was thinking that Xuxi asked for a break specifically for it, but anyway you had found out that your neighbor who lived next to you had been trying to spy on you, such was apparent from the small hole you found in your bedroom which you had unceremoniously plastered over and hung a picture frame on top of. Prior to that you ended up getting her to out her plan and apparently she was aware that Xuxi was a frequent visitor and wanted to see what the effort was for. Then, when she found out it was _your_ apartment, she tried to break in, but luckily you were able to hold the door down until the cops arrived.

You didn’t tell that to Xuxi, you just told him that you got locked out of your apartment and called a friend of yours to open it, and the only other way to do so was to break the lock. Part of you felt like he didn’t buy it, but he didn’t press it so you figured that you’d drop it. First thing he did was fix your lock, which you were thankful for, but it did take a good majority of the day.

“Alright, all warmed up!” You leaned back from the fireplace and sighed. “God, it’s so cold… I hate it here,” you laughed softly. You eyed the presents next to the fireplace.

“Don’t even think about it, silly,” Xuxi poked your head lightly.

“There’s like… five more days until Christmas, please?” You reached for yours and Xuxi took it and put it on the highest shelf. “Xuxi!” You stood up and tried to reach it.

“Nope, five more days,” a huge grin was on Xuxi’s face and you pinched his cheek.

“You win this round, Huang, but it’s only because you’re taller than me and I don’t have the energy to get the step stool,” you said softly. He tugs you down onto your lap and holds you close.

“You know… you remind me of something,” he says.

“What’s that?”

“Mm… I don’t know,” he hums and you snickered. “Ah, forget about it, it’ll come back to me. Still cold?”

“Just a little,” you mumbled, your chattering teeth betraying you. “How the hell are you so warm?”

“I did cardio today.”

“Ah, okay,” you snuggled closer to Xuxi and you both sat together in comfortably silence. This was nice, you thought to yourself. You hadn’t really spent time together like this for a while, especially because he was touring with SuperM for the first half of the year, then he went straight into promotions with WayV, then, goodness, NCT 2020 happened and he just hasn’t had a break. You were glad to see him relaxed like this, Xuxi was always one that knew his limits well, as you’ve learned.

On Xuxi’s end he was surprised that the company even let him have a break for this long, maybe they recognized that they’ve been working him to the bone and finally let him rest. Although he’s known as the energizer, even he needs a recharge himself now. Then it hit him, he looked down at you with wide eyes. You were like… a portable charger. He stifled a laugh himself, imagining the shocked look on your face that would appear when he told you. But really, you were. You follow him around and when he’s feeling down you bring him right back up, what a wonderful… charger… you are, he thought to himself. Maybe he shouldn’t tell you that. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	21. Scarves - Winwin

“(Y/N)! It’s cold outside, you should bring a scarf!” Sicheng calls out from your front door. He had called you earlier today asking if you were free to go on a walk with him that evening and you, being the Sicheng-deprived person you were, naturally said yes faster than you could even think about it. Then your clumsy self forgot what time he was coming so when he rung your doorbell and you were still in pajamas and bunny slippers you clambered to get ready. “(Y/N)?”

“I’ll be fine!” You answered him, looking at yourself in the mirror before walking out to him. “How do I look?” You asked him.

“Like you’re going to be cold.”

“Don’t be like that,” you poked his side playfully and walked with him down the street.

Oh how you wish he tried harder to tell you to dress warmly.

Because now you’re regretting it and you don’t want to give your longtime boyfriend the satisfaction of knowing that he was right, in a playful way, of course. You both sat on a bench together, looking up at the clear and starry night skies above the river. It really was a sight to behold, mind you, if you weren’t freezing cold. You fought back your chattering teeth by holding onto the small cake box in your hands, a small gift that Sicheng had bought you, and you had to make sure that you didn’t crush the adorable box.

“You’re cold, aren’t you?” Sicheng looks over at you.

“… yeah…” you answered quietly. Sicheng laughs sweetly and pulls you closer to him and takes his scarf off. “Hey! You need to stay warm, idols need to be healthy, you know,” you spoke up.

“Don’t worry about it,” he wraps the surprisingly long scarf around both of you, you could tell that he was trying to be romantic about it, you vaguely remember seeing this in a drama somewhere, but you could tell that he was… rather uncomfortable.

“Sicheng…?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?” You looked over at him and he was craning his neck towards you.

“No, not really, but it was worth a shot,” again that melodic laugh came and you joined in this time.

“Here, love, I’ll just buy one when we pass by the next shop, I need a new one anyway,” you removed yourself from the scarf and wrapped it around him again.

Sometimes you forgot about these small moments that made you love him so much, he was never the kind to do great big gestures of love so when he tried it was always heartwarming to you. You and Sicheng differed in this way, actually. You’d do so much to show your appreciation for him, even flying to watch his showcase in Dream Plan way back when and so much more, but you knew that Sicheng didn’t need all of that to know that you’d stick with him through it all and, truthfully, that rubbed off on you too. You learned to find the bigger intentioned behind these small moments that Sicheng was so good at making with you, and, maybe it was just you, but you found them to be more romantic than if he took you to a candle-lit dinner.

Sicheng, meanwhile, was always prone to overthinking, something that he’s done for years now and no doubt will continue to do. He was always thinking that maybe he should be doing more with you, making more unforgettable memories with you, but everything that you’ve both done together was, well, _unforgettable_. He still vividly remembers the day you first met, your first date, your twelfth date, and so on, down to the last word almost. He was always the perceptive kind, always paying attention, and even with that it took a lot to convince himself that he was doing just fine. He had nailed your Christmas gift every year because of this and this year, he hopes, will be his third year running. He can only imagine the huge smile on your face when he tells you that he finally got Christmas off. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	22. Trains - Kun

“Finally, I made it,” Kun opens the train cabin door and walks in, sitting on the seat in front of you with, what was previously, your lost luggage.

“Oh my god, you found it,” you gasped while he rolled it over to you, you opened the small luggage and looked inside, seeing everything as you left it.

You and Kun had actually travelled out of country for the holidays, fancy, right? Well, actually, he was on schedule, but he figured that since he’d be on break after he’d bring you with him and you could both have a vacation together afterwards. Unfortunately your plane took a detour and you landed way too far from your destination, and SM being SM gave him train tickets to get to the destination, which was a remarkable eight hours away by train. Naturally you were both _pissed_ , for a lack of a better term, but it is what it is, they had to get what was available at the last minute, at least it was a nice passenger’s train with private rooms for its passengers, you both digressed. But to make matters worse, the train staff lost your luggage, which you and Kun spent a considerable amount of time locating until he found it himself a few carriages over and… it’s just been a mess.

“This is one way to spend the holidays, isn’t it?” He laughs tiredly, making the best out of the situation.

“On the bright side, you can sleep longer, love,” you laughed along with him and pulled your legs up to your chest, leaning back on the comfortable seats of the train. “This isn’t so bad, they even had a cute trolley come down and give us free snacks for the inconvenience.”

“Snacks?”

“Yeah, I put them up here so that they would’t be a mess, you want one?”

“Yes, please,” he looked up at the luggage compartment and you took out a small box.

“They had cake so I got us two slices,” Kun pulled the table down as you spoke. You placed the box on the table and climbed down from the seat, holding two forks and handing him one.

“What kind?”

“Strawberry vanilla, I think,” you opened the box and two slices of cake sat before the both of you. “They’re cute, right?” You cooed gently, taking a bite of your slice. The taste was certainly your money’s worth, if you paid for it, that is. The sweet delicacy was just right, not too overpowering and not too underwhelming, and not to mention the presentation was one to be envied as well.

“They are,” Kun ate his next. “But not as cute as you,” he tried his hand at a pick-up line but your laughter betrayed you.

“I appreciate the compliment, love, but you have to admit that what you said just now was so cheesy,” you covered your mouth and laughed. Kun sighed but chuckled along with you.

“I should’ve known that taking compliment advice from Xuxi wouldn’t have been the best choice,” Kun says and you laughed even more.

“Ah! I can hear him saying it too!” You had on a wide grin before continuing to eat your cake.

This might seem out of the blue, but you really were ecstatic to be with Kun, especially around this time of the year. There was always something about the holiday season that would bring the best out of both of you, despite your hiccups, you’d always bounce back easier. Even with the series of _events_ that happened today, in the end you were just glad to be spending it with Kun and, you’d never say this out loud, but you were glad SM went with the long distance passenger train. What would’ve been a three hour flight with Kun was now extended and, hey, more time for the both of you to catch up before his vacation finally kicks off and who were you to say no to that? You just hoped that the staff wouldn’t chew him out when he arrived, or else you’d chew them out too and no one wants that.

Kun’s phone buzzed on the table next to the cakes and both of your eyes immediately went to it, it was the WayV group chat, blowing up his phone with twenty messages a minute.

“Goodness, is everything alright?” You asked him. Kun opened his messages and smiled.

“It’s nothing,” he showed you the screen, a bunch of the same message, or messages of similar meaning, filled the screen, all reminding him to tell you that they said ‘hi’ and that they missed you.

“Aww, they’re so sweet,” a soft smile rose on your face and Kun couldn’t help but marvel at you. I mean, when isn’t he? You always amazed him every day, from how understanding you were to how easy to get along with you were with anyone really, he envied that about you. Him being him he always overthinks things, how should he sit, how should he speak, he was always afraid that someone was listening, but when he was with you he could let all those barriers drop and just be _him_. It was something he wouldn’t give up for the world and, because of that, maybe he did _secretly_ appeal to his manager to extend their trip together somehow and _maybe_ his manager obliged but no one would ever know, unfortunately. While you were still staring at the texts that WayV continued to send with wondrous curiosity, he glanced out the window to see the wondrous snowy landscape. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


	23. Mistletoe - Mark

“Yo, really?” Mark’s voice was loud in the dorms, you could even hear it from where you stood _outside_ of them. “For real?”

“Yeah, for real,” Johnny’s voice was next. You felt kind of bad for eavesdropping but they knew you were here and they were rather loud so what could you do? “Just hang it on top of a doorway and _bam_.”

 _‘Oh, they’re talking about mistletoe,’_ you thought to yourself.

“Thanks, man, you’re the best,” Mark, again. But if he wanted a kiss, he could’ve just asked you. It wasn’t like the two of you just started dating, in fact, you were both pushing a year now almost. But, what the hell, you’d might as well entertain him.

And where’s the fun if you just _walked_ under the mistletoe right off the bat? Hmm?

Your house was structured so that there were multiple entryways into most rooms, and most of those entryways were just open spaces and therefore no doors and, knowing Mark, he’s going to do exactly what Johnny told him to do and _ah ha!_ There it was, no the doorway to your kitchen and now, the game’s afoot.

“(Y/N), let’s grab a drink in the kitchen,” Mark asks, he walks next to you and laughed to yourself, did he really think that you’d be so easy? Right as he walked through the doorway you paused.

“Ah, I left my phone in the bathroom, be right back,” you said, just barely catching the short look of surprise on Mark’s face. Again, snickering to yourself, you grabbed your phone and walked to the kitchen, leaning on the counter that separated kitchen from living room. “Grab me a water, please?”

“You should… come in and get it,” Mark sounded suspicious, but you knew he was trying.

“Why would I do that if you’re already in there?”

“Just… just cuz, you know?” He laughs awkwardly.

He was trying _so_ hard, you had to fight back another laugh. Don’t misunderstand yourself, you found his attempts endearing, so why not, might as well give the poor boy what he wants, right? He deserved it after being nonstop busy all year and getting virtually no breaks. You should be more considerate but, _then again_ , he could just _tell_ you what he wants. Wait, no, now’s not the time to get on the naughty list, Christmas was in two days after all and if you were too mischievous Mark might hide your gift, so you figured that you should relent but… what’s one more jab?

“You’re right, okay, I’ll be there,” you said.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” you clambered over the counter and landed in the kitchen, looking at Mark’s dumbfounded expression. He really wanted that mistletoe kiss, didn’t he? You walked past him and poured yourself water and drank it quickly.

“Oh look, an ornament fell!” He pointed to your tree, but everything was in place. At this point, you felt bad, you should probably just give him what he wants and stand under the mistletoe already, but the look on his face was just so cute you wanted to mess with him a bit longer but no, you must exercise self restraint, your boyfriend probably needed a break now. “We should go fix that.”

“Okay.”

“But— Wait, did you say okay?”

“I did.”

“Okay!” Mark’s eyes lit up and he automatically ran to the door. Maybe he was being a bit too obvious and, yes, maybe he should’ve just asked because he knew you would’ve most likely said yes, but this was more fun. Plus, he knew that you were messing with him and he was always up for a challenge. Finally, you stood next to him under the door frame, a cute smirk on your face, and you pointed up to the mistletoe. “Oh my god, would you look at that! I wonder who put that there,” he said in an exaggerated tone.

“You could’ve just asked, Mark.”

“Yeah but this is more festive,” he smiles. You still didn’t budge. “Oh, come on, please? At least just, like, a quick kiss?”

“Okay, I’ll give you that,” you smiles and stood up slightly, briefly connecting your lips with his before pulling away.

“Wait, is that it?”

“Hmm?”

“That’s all I get?”

“Yeah, for now,” your smile grew and Mark’s jaw dropped.

“But that was like… so fast…”

“One kiss per mistletoe, babe, and you did say at least a quick one.”

“But I didn’t think you were only going to do that,” you felt bad, almost, he sounded like a sad puppy.

“We’ll bend the rules just this once then,” you winked.

“Yes,” Mark punched the air lightly and you chuckled again. He was a dork, but he was also your dork so he gets a pass. Mark leaned in slightly and you couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up again. “Wait what? Why?”

“Mark, you’re so cute,” you wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him a bit longer this time. “You’re so sweet though. But really, just ask next time. Save yourself the stress of me purposely avoiding this doorway.”

“For sure, that would be easier…” Mark nods. “So… can I have another one?”

“Not in my kitchen.”

“Okay, right,” Mark nodded again and you left first, walking to the couch and turning on the TV. “You didn’t say no,” the sudden realization popped in his head. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.


End file.
